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Conservation is the profession devoted to the preservation of cultural property for the future. Cultural property includes cultural artifacts that illuminate a society's cultural heritage. Conservation activities include examination, documentation, treatment, and preventive care, supported by research and education. (Definition taken from the Core Documents of The American Institute for Conservation of Historic & Artistic Works - see external links.) Art conservation is not identical to art restoration. Restoration is a process that attempts to return the work of art to some previous state that restorer imagines to be "original". This was commonly done in the past. However, in the late 20th century a separate concept of conservation was developed that is more concerned with preserving the work of art for the future, and less with making it look pristine. Restoration is controversial, since it often involves some irreversable change to the original material of the artwork with the goal of making it "look good." The attitude of restorers in recent years is to make all the restoration they undertake reversable. The use of watercolor paints to inpaint damages on fresco is an example of a technique utilized to achieve almost complete reversability. Image File history File links Wiki_letter_w. ... A cultural artifact is an man-made object which gives information about the culture of its creator and users. ... Cultural heritage (national heritage or just heritage) is the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations. ... Conservation is the profession devoted to the preservation of cultural property for the future. ...

Art conservation can involve the cleaning and stabilization of art work. Ideally, any process used is reversible, departures from that ideal not being undertaken lightly. Cleaning is not a reversible process and can sometimes be controversial due to fears that cleaning would damage a piece, or on the grounds that damage or residue forms part of the history of a given piece and should not be modified. Michaelangelo's statue of David has undergone two cleanings to remove dirt that had accumulated on the statue's surface. A residue, broadly, is anything left behind by a reaction or event. ... David and Goliath by Caravaggio, c. ...

Conservation lab

In North America, five colleges/universities offer a graduate degree in art conservation: Image File history File links Conservation_lab. ... Image File history File links Conservation_lab. ... World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America. ...

• The University of Delaware (in association with Winterthur Museum)
• Buffalo State College, New York
• Queen's University, Ontario
• New York University [1]
• UCLA/Getty Program in Archaeological and Ethnographic Conservation

In addition, the University of Texas, Austin offers a Certificate of Advanced Study in the conservation of library and archival materials as part of its Master of Science in Information Studies program. The University of Delaware (UD or UDel) is the largest university in the state of Delaware. ... Winterthur, an American country estate in Winterthur, Delaware, (north of Wilmington, USA) is the former home of Henry Francis du Pont (1880-1969), an avid antiques collector and horticulturist. ... State University of New York College at Buffalo and often referred to colloquially as Buff State, is a public, liberal arts college in Buffalo, New York and is part of the State University of New York. ... Queens University, or simply Queens, is a coeducational, nonsectarian university located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, on the edge of Lake Ontario. ... Motto: Ut Incepit Fidelis Sic Permanet (Latin: Loyal she began, loyal she remains) Official languages English Flower White Trillium Tree Eastern White Pine Bird Common Loon Capital Toronto Largest city Toronto Lieutenant-Governor James K. Bartleman Premier Dalton McGuinty (Liberal) Parliamentary representation  - House seats  - Senate seats 106 24 Area Total... New York University (NYU) is a major research university in New York City. ...

In the United Kingdom, colleges/universities that offer a graduate degree in art conservation are (list incomplete):

• The University of Lincoln, Lincoln, England
• Winchester School of Art part of the University of Southampton
• The City and Guilds of London Art School

The International Committee for Conservation (ICOM-CC) [2] is the largest of the International Committees of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) with over 1500 members worldwide from every branch of the museum and conservation profession. ICOM-CC aims to promote the conservation, investigation and analysis of culturally and historically significant works and to further the goals of the conservation profession. ICOM-CC is built up of specialist Working Groups, which actively communicate with their members through newsletters, meetings and at the Triennial Congress. The Triennial Congress brings the membership of ICOM-CC together to report and to review current research. Over 1000 papers have been published in the Congress Pre-prints in the past twenty years. University of Lincoln logo post The University of Lincoln is one of the newest universities in the United Kingdom, founded in its current form in 2001, but with its roots in the nineteenth-century Hull School of Art. ... Winchester School of Art is an art school affiliated with the University of Southampton. ... The University of Southampton is a British university situated in the city of Southampton, on the south coast of Great Britain. ...

Further reading

• Knut Nicolaus "The Restoration of Paintings" (1999)

Specialities within the field

Architectural conservation

• Art Technological Source Research

Architectural conservation describes the process through which the material, historical, and design integrity of immovable objects are prolonged through carefully planned interventions. ...

Book and Paper

Conservators in Private Practice

• Documentation
• Education and Training in Conservation
• Virginia Art Conservation and Restoration

Electronic Media

• Ethnographic Collections
• Glass and Ceramics
• Leather and Related Materials
• Legal Issues in Conservation
• Metals
• Modern Materials and Contemporary Art
• Mural Paintings, Mosaics and Rock Art
• Natural History Collections

Objects

• Paintings
• Photographic Materials
• Preventive Conservation
• Scientific Research
• Sculpture, Polychromy and Architectural Decoration
• Stone
• Task Force on Public Engagement in Conservation
• Textiles
• Theory and History in Conservation-Restoration
• Wet Organic and Archeological Materials
• Wood, Furniture and Lacquer

United States Conservation Associations

• American Institute for Conservation of Historic & Artistic Works[3]
• Bay Area Conservation Guild
• Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts [4]
• Chicago Area Conservation Guild
• Louisiana Art Conservation Alliance
• Midwest Regional Conservation Guild [5]
• New England Conservation Association
• New York Regional Association for Conservation
• Southeast Regional Conservation Association
• Virginia Conservation Association
• Washington Conservation Guild
• Western Association for Art Conservation
• Western New York Conservation Guild

The Midwest Regional Conservation Guild was started in 1980 by art conservation and restoration professionals with the purpose of bringing together those individuals in the Midwest region (and beyond) interested in the preservation of historic and artistic works and to promote fellowship and exchange of ideas on a professional level. ...

Canadian Conservation Associations

• Canadian Association for Conservation [6]
• Canadian Association of Professional Conservators [7]

See also

• ArtWatch International
• Cultural heritage

ArtWatch International was founded by James Beck, professor of art history at Columbia University to monitor conservation of art works. ... Cultural heritage (national heritage or just heritage) is the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations. ...

External links

• The Conservator-Restorer: a Definition of the Profession
• Freeview Video 'Science and Fine Art' by David Bomford of the National Gallery. A Royal Institution Lecture showing how scientific techniques aid conservation by the Vega Science Trust.
• The American Institute for Conservation of Historic & Artistic Works
• Observatory for the Protection of Cultural and Environmental Heritage in areas of crisis
• Conservation OnLine
• Objects Conservation - Provided by the Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History.
• English Heritage